The present invention relates to novel and therapeutically valuable 4-benzylpiperidines, their pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts, a process for their preparation, and their use as sigma-receptor ligands.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,728 describes the treatment of psychosis with cis-9[3-(3,5-dimethylpiperazinyl)propyl]carbazol. U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,094 discloses 1,3-disubstituted guanidines as well as their utility in the diagnosis and treatment of hallucinations associated with psychotic disorders and chronic mental depression. U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,734 discloses N-substituted 1-(1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-3-pyridinyl)oximes and N-substituted 1-(1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-4-pyridinyl)oximes and their utility in the treatment of depression, psychoses and/or inflammatory diseases. U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,728 describes the utility of 4-phenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphthalenamine derivatives in the treatment of psychoses, inflammations and their use as immunosuppressants. The compounds claimed in all these patents have a shared affinity as sigma-receptor ligands to the Central Nervous System. To this effect, literature reviews by B. L. Largent et al (Eur. J. Pharmacol. 155, 345-7, 1988) and S. I. Deutsch et al 1988) and S. I. Deutsch et al (Clinical Neuropharmacology, 11(2), 105-119, 1988) are illustrative of the biochemical, pharmacological and clinical aspects of sigma-receptor ligands.